On Genius
by CanisLupus4
Summary: UPDATE: Sasuke is genius, but not smart enough. He's not insane, but he might as well be.
1. Naruto

Yay. I have another oneshot/character study thing. Whether more are forthcoming is, again, subjective.

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><p>In the eyes of most people, Uzumaki Naruto was many things, but a genius was not one of those things. He was loud, brash, impulsive, and wore neon orange. Such behaviour was hardly that of a person with above-average intelligence. He certainly could not appear more different from those great acknowledged genii, like the Uchiha prodigy Itachi, the clever strategists of the Nara Clan, or even his own father, hailed as a once-per-generation talent like no other.<p>

Yes, Naruto lacked their calm and cool, the apparent ease with which they accomplished what they set out to do, and certainly never seemed like he knew what he was doing, beyond throwing a horde of Kage Bunshin at the matter. But he could very well be genius. Perhaps not quite on Namikaze Minato's level, but at the very least Naruto was, without a doubt, in possession of no small amount of potential.

It is likely that any shinobi of decent intelligence could have learned to use the Shadow Clone Technique, and it may be the technique is in theory simple enough for most Academy students to grasp. It does seem that the only real reason it was labelled kinjutsu was due to the likelihood that a normal shinobi could accidentally kill himself through chakra depletion, by way of misjudging how many clones he could safely split his chakra between. Naruto appears to have merely been lucky in this regard, that his chakra levels, between the Uzumaki vitality and the Kyūbi's power, are so abnormally high that such a risk is nearly nonexistent.

However, no common shinobi could have managed to learn the Rasengan as quickly as he did. An A-ranked technique that takes the shape manipulation of chakra to the highest possible level, the user would require both strength and great control in order to pull it off perfectly. Uchiha Sasuke, suggested by many to be a genius in his own right, spent a month mastering the Chidori, a technique of equal strength. Naruto first forms a true Rasengan after two weeks of training, while under heavy duress.

Indeed, it is while under great stress that Naruto's cunning comes to the fore. The strategies used to catch Zabuza and Neji off guard, while perhaps not the most spectacular evidence ever, certainly succeeded, in part playing off his opponents' underestimation of a fool they had already written off as a harmless boy playing at being shinobi. And these are only early examples.

In other areas, though, the boy displays much less stellar ability. He fails the Academy's final exam not once, but three times, each time due to his inability to perform the standard Bunshin no Jutsu, an E-ranked skill taught to all Academy students. He often fails to arrive at certain answers despite the evidence being right before his eyes. Explanations given to him have to be simplified in order for him to understand it.

Genius, though, does not necessarily mean that one must excel on all fronts. Furthermore, Naruto's particular problems may in fact have nothing to do with the level of his intelligence.

The basic Clone Technique requires good chakra control. Haruno Sakura's greatest talent is this, while most Academy students can manage it to various extents. Twelve-year-old Naruto's weak point, however, has been observed to be his (in)ability to exert fine control over his chakra. Indeed, even years later, he forms his Rasengan with the aid of a shadow clone because he had not mastered the chakra control needed to form it with a single hand. Given the extraordinary level of power he has, it is unsurprising that he encountered the rarely observed problem of simply melting his clones by way of overloading them with chakra. Few twelve-year-olds would have sufficient strength to manage such a spectacular meltdown so easily.

As for why it takes him years to realise that there are people who truly care about him, why it never seems to have occurred to him to ask about his parents...well, consider the facts. Here is a child who has, throughout his formative years, consistently been ignored and disliked. Not mistreated and abused, no, but neglect can do just as much damage, if not even more so. People who mean him well are a rarity at best; he does not expect it to last, since once they hear of whatever it is that makes everyone avoid him, they will do the same. How was he to know whether Umino Iruka genuinely cared, or had simply not gotten the memo?

What does it matter, anyway, knowing who your parents were, if the knowledge that such people existed will not bring them back to your side? Better not to think of it at all, because once you start asking why, there may be no end to the questions. Or perhaps there will be an answer you cannot bear. One invited pain and insanity with the very thought of the questions.

And so were many of the other questions Naruto could have asked. He could not have gotten the answer of why they hated him, nor would knowledge of the answer have helped change their treatment of him. Sometimes, you don't even know the right questions to ask. Once one has learned not to ask quite so many questions, hearing an explanation becomes equally foreign, especially when people once did not deign to offer any.

Even a genius cannot simply learn from thin air. When the only people who cared about Naruto were too busy to see if he ate well and kept his apartment clean, how was he to learn all the little things he was supposed to do? Is it any wonder that he seemed to be so slow, and yet started improving by leaps and bounds once he received some proper teaching?

Jiraiya's purpose for taking him on a training trip had little to do with learning powerful new techniques like Sasuke or Sakura did. What Naruto needed was for someone to help him master all those basic skills he lacked, such as that ability to dispel genjutsu, in order to ensure his future progress as a shinobi not be hampered by a weak foundation.

Once Naruto has been brought properly up to speed, though, he accomplishes feats on par with the best of them. Combining the Rasengan with nature manipulation was never accomplished by Kakashi, also a highly intelligent man and a natural adept at the ninja arts. Jiraiya of the Sannin did not quite master senjutsu in his time. And while others have managed to fully utilise the power of the demons sealed within them, it can be said that achieving this with the most powerful of the tailed beasts is no easy matter.

And if it had been suggested to his Academy classmates that Uzumaki Naruto would go on to do all this, they would all have sworn on their family fortunes that the dead last was too stupid to pass the Academy final exam, much less all this wishful thinking. Even now, everyone believes it is Naruto's determination that has allowed him to succeed, not any real natural talent. Stamina and stubbornness does not a genius make.

Is Naruto really as stupid as everyone thinks he is, though?


	2. Sasuke

Shockingly, I did write a second piece under this theme. I suppose there might be spoilers for anyone not up to date, but it doesn't matter much, I didn't go into detail. Also, this is not entirely canon (yet), as it includes my own theory on what Sasuke is up to these days. I don't care if you love or hate him, but I think you could give this theory a chance, at least.

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><p>Many people, including acclaimed genii like Sharingan no Kakashi, Orochimaru of the Sannin, and the infamous Uchiha Itachi, consider one Uchiha Sasuke to be a genius.<p>

Of course, the endorsements of these particular genii are hardly positive commendations, given that they are widely known to be various degrees of bat-shit insane. Sasuke's own reputation is far from stellar at this point, and indeed seems to have become yet another example of the insanity-power correspondence ratio among shinobi – that is to say, with great insanity comes great power, and vice versa. But that is a topic for another day.

Sasuke himself is quite aware that he is genius, but hardly up there with the best of them. He is also very painfully aware that most of his so-called genius really comes from following in the footsteps of genius, namely the genius that is his older brother.

At seven years of age, he proved incapable of performing the Great Fireball Technique on his first attempt, as Itachi could. He did prove that he could do so with a week of intense practice, placing him well ahead of his peers in the Academy and a step behind Itachi.

Since the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Sasuke's driving goal in life was to avenge his clan, which naturally meant doing his best to surpass his brother. Following the footsteps of his jōnin-sensei helped, but ultimately, he needed to advance as fast as he could. After all, both his brothers needed it.

Itachi was hardly going to sit idle and wait for Sasuke to catch up, and Naruto was in danger as long as Itachi was on the loose.

Naruto, too, was unlikely to sit idle while Sasuke did what needed doing, so he attempted to discourage his teammate-friend-brother, though that backfired spectacularly – it seemed the more he tried to push him away, the more the idiot tried to get him back.

Somewhere in the middle of his obsession with his brother(s) – oh, he was aware it was an obsession, and quite an unhealthy one at that, but he did not see how that mattered in the scheme of things – Sasuke had abandoned his other goal, that of rebuilding his clan. The only two living Uchiha were most certainly not suitable role models for any future young, impressionable Uchiha children, and once knowledge of the cursed gift that was the Mangekyō Sharingan came out...really, the last thing this pathetic world needed was more deadly sibling rivalry.

There was unease in his heart about that, of course. What would his father, his mother, all the clan's ancestors think of that? It was his duty to see the family name carried on, and the gifts of their blood with it, and all the clan's honour, as much as it was his duty to avenge them. Sasuke hoped the restless spirits of his dead understood that the Uchiha name was better off dead and redeemed than living and blood-soaked, and decided the living had to take precedence over the dead for now, in any case.

Itachi died. Died, not killed by Sasuke's hand, but dead nonetheless, and Sasuke was too battered and exhausted to think on what this meant to him before he passed out.

When he awoke, he knew he was in danger. This man with the swirling orange mask wore the Akatsuki robe – Orochimaru had been a good source of knowledge, if nothing else – and had the Sharingan. The masked man claimed he only wished to talk, but Sasuke knew better. He was helpless, in his current state, and even at the very peak of his current levels, he had not come close to defeating Itachi; his brother had merely been toying with him, much like how Orochimaru had merely been playing, those years ago in the Forest of Death.

And words, Sasuke knew, could hurt worse than any steel tool or ninjutsu. The worst injury Itachi had given his little brother was not the mental trauma inflicted by Tsukuyomi, nor the act of slaughtering their family in cold blood; it had been his claim that the loving nii-san Sasuke had known was a complete fiction, made up for his amusement.

The masked man proved him right. Words could do so much.

Words that told him Itachi had been a good man, a loyal shinobi of the Hidden Leaf who would sacrifice almost anything and everything for peace. Words that told him Itachi had loved his otōto to the last; had loved him more than the village he had killed his clan for. Words that told him he had ultimately played a part in Itachi's death, however unwittingly.

Words that told him Naruto, now his only living brother, was in great danger, along with their home village.

Even as Sasuke half-hysterically screamed denial of Itachi's truth, he had been thinking; the problem with genii was that they were always thinking, sometimes a little too much for their own good. He had confirmed, between the masked man's words and his own knowledge, a great many things.

The reasons for his family's discontent, in the months leading up to that night, became very clear. He remembered the suspicion and discrimination from the village against them, though only as vague memories, their unpleasantness paling before the defining memory of his existence.

The reasons for his treatment by the village – pitying and politely respectful, but distant – became clear. The people of Konoha had thought of the Uchiha as traitors-in-waiting, and secretly, guiltily considered their deaths to be good riddance, but for a young boy to witness all that, even an Uchiha boy...well, the Uchiha had done their duty to the Hidden Leaf, in years gone by, and it would be poor of the living indeed to speak ill of the dead, whatever had or had not happened.

The reasons for Itachi taking the time to answer his questions about Uchiha Madara, despite their mutual seeming animosity, became clear.

The reason Naruto had not yet been taken by the Akatsuki became clear too. His brother had certainly been powerful enough to finish that task if he had truly wanted to. Itachi was gone now, so the grace period was gone too. The masked man and his ilk would now turn their decidedly deadly attentions towards the Kyūbi's host...and Sasuke would be first in line if he did not do something to ensure the masked man would not kill him just yet.

Uchiha Sasuke was genius, but he was not quite up there with the best of them. Luckily, Itachi had already shown him the course he needed to take, left footprints for him to follow.

Itachi, in order to protect the Hidden Leaf and the people he loved, had lied to the people he loved, and taken up the title of missing-nin. Sasuke now did the same.

He had an easier time of it. Itachi sealed his deception with the warm flowing blood of his kin, with his own ANBU-issue sword; Sasuke sealed his deception with deranged vows of revenge, which were after all only words not yet fulfilled.

Sasuke knew the power of words, though, and he had rather scared himself with the convincingness of his performance. The feeling only escalated when he fought Danzō, perhaps the one Konoha shinobi who did deserve to die. The sheer wrongness of seeing his kinsmen's eyes implanted into the man's arm had stirred up the same fury he had felt at seeing Itachi dispose of their clan – no, even Itachi had not stooped to desecrating their corpses – but that anger was nothing compared to the terrifying sense of accomplishment he knew when he saw Danzō dead.

He was afraid he would lose himself, for after all no one could be allowed to know of his plan. Sasuke felt no true loyalty to Konohagakure no Sato; he would protect it only because he knew Naruto would.

And there was the other reason he would have an easier time of things. Unlike Itachi, Sasuke had a lifeline: he knew Naruto would never lose faith in him.

Sasuke needed Naruto, because Sasuke's genius would always be a step behind Itachi's, and therefore he could not walk on alone.

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><p>Review! I want to know what you think!<p> 


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